1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method and system for improving automation of the fuse blow procedure and the associated memory repairs in relation to a determination, through testing, of the defective sections of memory of a semiconductor chip of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design.
2. Related Art
An application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) may include a semiconductor chip, wherein the chip includes memory devices such as random access memory (RAM). Examples of RAM devices include static random access memory (SRAM) and embedded dynamic random access memory (eDRAM). Since these memory devices are subject to failure they may be tested, such as by use of a built-in self-test (BIST) design, so that defective sections of memory can be subsequently switched out and replaced by redundant memory that had been reserved for repairing said defective sections of memory. The chip may contain an array of fuses and upon detection of a defective memory section, select fuses of the array of fuses may be blown to encode within the hardware of the chip the defective sections of memory so determined by the testing. When the chip is subsequently powered up, the array of blown and unblown fuses may be used to identify the defective sections of memory so that the defective sections of memory may be logically disconnected from the chip circuitry in favor of the redundant memory.
Unfortunately, the use of fuses for replacing defective memory with redundant memory is not currently optimal with respect automation of the fuse blow procedure and the associated memory repairs. Thus, there is a need to improve automation of the fuse blow procedure and the associated memory repairs.